13th Doctor Pre-series Snippets
by EvelynThursday
Summary: Random scenes with speculation of the 13th Doctor's character. Written before the first episode aired. 1 of 3 - Shards, 2 of 3 - Impatient Patient, 3 of 3 - Sacrifice.
1. Shards

"Ow," said the Doctor, sucking air between her teeth as Graham ran his fingers through her hair, carefully extracting bloodied shards of glass and dropping them with a clink into the waiting metal bowl at his elbow.

The Tardis console room was otherwise quiet, the soothing hum in the background only disturbed by the Doctor's pained gasps and the chime of extracted glass. Yasmin and Ryan were off exploring the planet on their own after Graham dragged the Doctor back to her Tardis to look at her injuries.

Thankfully her injuries were minor, only cuts to her face and arms, and a mass of glass impaled in her scalp. Or rather, that was all the injuries she was admitting to.

True to human cliche despite her alien origins, the Doctor was a reluctant patient.

"I can do this myself, you know," the Doctor growled as she scowled at the floor between her knees. "A few minutes in the med bay with the -ow- tissue regenerator and I'll be as right as rain. I'm fine - you can go back to having fun with the others."

"You are not 'fine' - you fell about five meters head first through a pane of glass." Two more pieces fell into the bowl balanced on the console to prove his point. "You can't see where the glass is so you'd probably hurt yourself further by blindly searching for it. Let me get it all out and then you can get the tissue regenerator."

"I told you earlier it's not glass, its transparent silica alloy."

"Well it certainly shattered like glass as you fell through it. And you still haven't told me how badly you are hurt, that fall would have killed a human.

"Well I'm not human am I." She paused and sighed out a deep breath, realising that pain (and her dented ego) was causing her to snap at her friend. "I'm rather bruised but otherwise sound. There is nothing that a trip to the med bay won't sort out."

"Good. You scared us all for a little bit there."

Graham's fingers were gentle as they carded through the time Lord's hair in the following comfortable silence.

"Why'd it push you anyway?" He asked after a while, doing one last sweep through the Time Lord's hair before he declared her glass free and let her go and clean herself up.

"I got too close to it's nest and thought I was a threat. Typical parent behaviour found across the universe - the desire to protect your own offspring."

"Okay. So how did you get so close to the edge of the platform that you fell off it? I thought you Time Lord's were supposed to have more common sense than that."

"I tripped, ok? I was focusing on the youngsters and wasn't looking where I put my feet. I didn't realise I was so close to the edge until I had already fallen off it."

Graham settled the Doctor's hair back in its original position, making sure the parting was approximately in the right place.

"I think that's all the glass I can find. But be careful when you are washing it just in case. And you'd better wash it after you have fixed yourself up - you are more pink than blond at the moment."

The Doctor rose and put a hand on Graham's shoulder.

"Thanks. That probably was quicker and less painful than if I had done it myself. Now go clean my blood off your hands and find the others. Make sure Ryan hasn't got in trouble again and I'll join you in a bit. Try and make sure you lot haven't wandered far."

Graham looked down at this hands in surprise, he was so intent in helping the Doctor that he hadn't realised just how much blood he had got on them. Turns out that Time Lord head wounds bleed as much as human ones.

By the time he looked up again the Doctor had picked up the bowl of bloodied glass shards and was making her way to the doorway that led into the depths of the Tardis. He watched her walk, coat swishing behind her, moving with an ease that belied the events that had only happened a half hour before. Had it really been that short a time since he had seen the Time Lord fall; saw her smash through the not-glass; saw her lying unmoving for a few seconds that lasted hours before she sat up with a false smile on her face, hiding her pain?

He mentally shook himself from the memory and headed towards the bowls of the Tardis himself, hoping the bathroom hadn't move since the last time he had used it.

* * *

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	2. Impatient Patient

_Thirteen's first episode is tonight! I can't wait!_  
 _This ficlet was inspired by a few seconds of the series trailer, specifically when the Doctor walked into a big, white, round room and Graham stands up on the right hand side. The shot is barely a second long but my brain latched onto it._  
 _Part 3 of 3 is nearly finished - ending version 1 is complete, ending version 2 I hope to finish before the new episode and hopefully will be posted sometime this evening._

* * *

Graham rose from his chair as the Doctor appeared at the doorway of the rather futuristic (to be fair, it was literally the future) hospital waiting room. His movement caught the attention of Yaz and Ryan, who were quietly chatting in the corner, and of the Doctor, who made her way towards them.

She stumbled a few steps then seemed to manage to get her feet mostly under control, careening a drunken path across the room.

Graham steaded her with a hand to her elbow as she stopped next to the small group, flashing them a carefree smile even as she started to list to one side.

"Doctor, we were so worried," said Yaz, flinging her arms around the Doctor's neck. The hug quickly turned into steadying the Time Lord as she started to loose her balance under the human's weight.  
"Yeah, they wouldn't tell us anything," said Ryan as he propped up her other elbow.

"I'm fine," the Doctor replied, brushing off all the hands that were steadying her. She immediately started to wobble. "Woah, is the gravity fluctuating? They really should fix that."  
"We're on a planet, Doctor," replied Ryan, reinstating his hold on her arm. "I don't think gravity works that way.

The Doctor ignored the comment and looked at her three companions.

"Ready to go?"  
"Are you sure you should be leaving?" Graham asked, concerned. "You were unconscious an hour ago."  
"Yes, yes, stop faffing. People to see, planets to save." And with that the Doctor stepped out of Ryan's reach and started walking down the corridor away from them, bumping into a wall corner on the way past.  
"Are we really going to let her walk out of here?" Asked Yaz to Ryan as they watched Graham hover behind the Time Lord. "By the way she is walking she looks like she is really drunk."

"Yaz, do you think that she is going to let us stop her doing anything? She the Doctor. We've just got to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't do anything reckless." He thinks for a second. "Well, more reckless than usual."

Yaz sighed.

"I guess you're right. We'd better catch them up before we get left behind and lost in here. We may be a few thousand years in the future and on a completely different planet but this hospital is just as confusing as the ones at home."

They skirted past a group of blue tentacled aliens dawdling in the corridor on their way to the Doctor. The Time Lord was impatiently waiting for them at a bank of lifts.

"I'm fine Graham, please stop worrying. It'll take more than that to put an end to this body. And you two," she said as they reached her side, "had better not be fussing too." As she was talking she was waving her hands in the air in her usual exuberant way. Ryan noticed a dark mark on the underside of her left wrist. It looked like a barcode. He grabbed it as the Doctor's hand sailed past his face.

"What's that on your wrist?" He asked, pushing her sleeve up and rubbing a thumb across the marks there. "Is that a tattoo?"  
"It's nano ink, standard patient identification in this time period. Unless kept within the magnetic field of the hospital the ink particles degrade until they are attacked by the immune system. It should fade in 48 hours." There was a chime as the lift doors in front of them opened. "Let's get out of here." The Doctor stepped onto the lift and the others followed.

They rode their way down in silence, the Doctor discreetly holding the wall for balance.

The lift doors opened with another chime and the Doctor stepped out.

"Doctor….." Yaz held out a hand to try and stall her progress but the Doctor just brushed it off.

"Nope. Don't want to hear it."

The three humans stood there, stunned at the Doctor's suddenly brisk manner, watching her striding determinedly down the corridor on two slightly unsteady legs. Yaz had to admit that her balance seemed to have improved in the few minutes since she had first appeared a few floors above. She looked less drunk and more like her usual baby deer, just a little more wobbly.

"Why are you so averse to hospitals?" Asked Graham when they caught back up. "They are supposed to help you."  
"Last but one time I was a patient they killed me," the Doctor replied. "And waking up in the mortuary is just as terrible as it sounds."  
"Wait," said Ryan, shocked. Yaz and Graham looked at each other, wide eyed. "Did you just say mortuary?!"

"Yep. And I don't fancy being a lab specimen either, Time Lords are a rather rare commodity in the universe and there are loads of organisations that would love to take a good long look at my biology."

"No wonder you are so keen to get out of here then."

"Correct. And before you bring it up again, I am fine. Fast healing is a benefit of the aforementioned Time Lord biology."

She seemed to cheer up as they crossed the hospital lobby, slinging an arm across Yaz and Graham's shoulders.

"I'm flattered you were worried but you really shouldn't have been. But I know you meant well, so thanks for looking out for me."

She dropped her arms and headed to the doors, striding confidently outside. The humans had to slow as their eyes adjusted to the relative dimness created by the surrounding tall building blocking out the sunshine compared to the brightness of the inside of the hospital.

The Doctor seemed to be heading for a specific destination so they followed, admiring the spectacular architecture that they hadn't been able to enjoy earlier.

They passed down streets and along raised walkways until they were thoroughly lost. All three humans didn't care where the Doctor was taking them, they were just happy that her gait contained all her usual awkward grace and none of the earlier unsteadiness.

They passed under an ornate arch after a while, stepping from tarmac to grass. They also stepped out of the shadows and into bright sunlight.

Yaz, Graham and Ryan shielded their eyes with their hands until they had adjusted to the brightness, hoping not to bump into anyone during their temporary blindness.

They stopped when the Doctor stopped in the middle of the grassy park and waited for her to say something. Instead she just stood there, eyes closed and head thrown back, basking in the warmth of the sun.

After an anxious few hours it was heartwarming to see the same old Doctor again, hands tucked deep in her trouser pockets and hair gleaming gold in the warm sunshine.


	3. Sacrifice

_Have you seen the first episode? It was goooooood (and that's all I will say about it as I don't want to spoil people)._

 _There is an alternate ending to this fic, a more whumpy version of the first. I just couldn't pick which one to used so I have included both._

* * *

The last of the sparks had just faded as the three humans reached the end of the corridor, feet skidding on the polished metal floor and panting from their frantic sprint from the other side of the outpost.

That idiotic Time Lord had really done it, sacrificing herself to save the hundreds of lives on this planetoide, despite the warning from the tribe's elder that that machine would stop her heart if she activated it and stopped the prophesized curse.

They paused at the doorway, uncertain if more power was going to surge through the room or if it was safe to enter.

Graham, not as fit as the two youngsters, held onto a wall strut as he caught his breath. The sight in front of him made him feel more breathless than the run had been.

The Doctor lay sprawled at the base of the machine. She was still, eyes shut, coat, hair and limbs spread wide. From this distance they couldn't even tell if she was breathing.

They paused at the entrance way, unsure if it was safe to enter, but moved after Ryan took the first step towards the unconscious Time Lord.

They gathered around her, Graham kneeling at her side whilst the others stood, stiff with uncertainty.

Graham carefully picked a limp hand and pressed his fingers into the Doctor's wrist.

"Is she dead?" Asked Yaz.

"No," he replied. "I can feel her heart beating….. wait, I'm supposed to feel two hearts. That thing really did stop a heart."

"Shit, what do we do?" Ryan anxiously ran his fingers across his hair, pacing a few steps up and down.

Graham reached out with his other hand and rolled the Doctor's head so that it was facing him and hovered his fingers above her mouth.

"She's breathing, but weakly." He moved his hand to her cheek, tapping it first but when that elicits no response he shook her shoulder.

"Doctor, wake up."

The Doctor's brows wrinkled and she groaned in pain as she started to come to.

"Oh thank goodness," sighed Yaz in relief. Ryan stopped his pacing.

For a second the Doctor's eyes opened but then snapped shut again, her breath hitching and hand clutching at her chest in pain.

"Doctor?!"

The Time Lord's other hand shot out and grabbed Graham's shoulder and used it to leaver herself up, listing sideways as she hunched over. Graham grabbed her by the shoulders so she wouldn't fall over.

"Gagh!" The Doctor gasped, breath shuddering.

"Doctor? What is it? What's wrong?"

""Heart," she ground out between pants of pain. "One heart's not working."

"What can we do?"

"Tardis. I can restart it in the Tardis."

"Right. Can you walk?"

"Think so. Just get me on my feet."

Three pair of hands quickly get her standing on unsteady legs, Graham supporting her on one side whilst the other two stood by, uncertain what to do now.

"Is there anything we should do to the machine?" Asked Yaz looking at the mass of metal and wires they were standing next to.

"No," replied the Doctor, still panting, "should be dormant. Just don't touch anything on it- aaggh" The rest of the Doctor's breath was lost in an exhalation of pain as she hunched over further, knees buckling and nearly slipping out of Graham's grip on her.

"Ryan," said Graham in alarm, "get her other arm. We are going to drag her to the Tardis if we have to. Yaz, make sure the way is clear. We will be right behind you."

"Right," said Yaz as Ryan looped the Doctor's free arm over his shoulders. "Be quick, yeah. She really doesn't look good." She turned and disappeared down the corridor they had run down.

"Ready to go?" Asked Graham. Ryan nodded back. "Come on Doctor, just one foot in front of the other."

The three started to shuffle forwards, the Doctor's legs not a strong as she hoped and the other two adjusting to each others different stride lengths and trying to make sure the Doctor was jostled as little as possible. The height difference didn't help, Ryan being a good few inches taller than Graham and the Doctor being about the same height shorter than the smaller man.

They had sped up by the time they had crossed the room and started to make their way down the corridor, Ryan and Graham matching strides and the Doctor gathering strength from somewhere and bearing most of her weight. She had even got enough breath back to talk, though her voice was laced with pain.

"I'm sure this hurts more that last time."

"Last time?" Asked Ryan.

"Invasion of the cubes"

"Oh yeah, I remember that. We threw a load off the science block back fire escape in physics lesson once."

"We can continue this another time," Graham cut across the conversation before Ryan or the Doctor, who despite her pain looked intrigued at the cube throwing, could ask any more questions.

They could see Yaz waiting at the end of the corridor, looking around the next corner. She spotted them and gave them a thumbs up. Ryan returned the gesture and she disappeared, securing the path ahead.

"That machine was a really great piece of technology," said the Doctor, either because she just had to fill the silence that had settled among them or as a distraction from the pain. She tried to sound cheerful despite the painful breathlessness of her voice. "Bioelectrical engineering. It uses the energy that keeps your heart beating as the trigger. It's a good thing I have two hearts, had any of you done it you would be stone dead. The only problem is that the trigger took more power than from just one heart. The one that is still beating is compromised and is in the process of failing and I'm not _entirely_ sure my cells have enough energy in them for regeneration."

"What?!" Exclaimed Ryan and Graham in each of the Doctor's ears.

"What can we do to help?" Asked Graham.

"Just get me to the Tardis."

They forged on again in silence, only broken by the Doctor's pained gasps. They occasionally saw Yaz checking the way ahead, giving them increasingly concerned glances each time. They saw no one else, the base that should have been filled with a few hundred people seemed to be deserted.

They should be close to the Tardis by now but Graham was increasingly worried they weren't going to make it. He could hear the Doctor's breathing, loud and laboured in his ear and he was finding that he was holding more and more of her weight. Whatever strength she had left sounded like it was waning fast.

Finding the Tardis nestled safely in the alcove they had left it in was a blessed relief. Yaz had already unlocked the door and was waiting impatiently for them to appear. She shut the door behind them as the two humans helped the Time Lord across the threshold. The Doctor didn't make any indication that she had noticed that the air had changed from the warm, humid air of the outpost station to the cool air of the Tardis, just continue to almost hang off the shoulders of her two companions. Ryan and Graham looked at each other over the Doctor's bowed head and wordlessly agreed to head to the medbay.

The lights were on when they reached the Tardis' medical room. Graham and Ryan looked to the Doctor for some sort of reaction, but got nothing.

They sat her on the bed. She really didn't look good, eyes closed, head sagging and she was panting like she wasn't getting enough oxygen. Given that one heart wasn't working and the other failing that probably was the case. She didn't even seem to realise that they had stopped.

"Doctor?"Asked Ryan, holding her arm to keep her upright. "Doctor!"

"Hhmmm..," she murmured. She seemed to wake up as if she had been asleep, uncertain for a few seconds where she was. "Oh, we're here."

"Yes, Doctor, back in the Tardis. Now what can we do to help. You really don't look well."

"Heart stimulant." She waved an arm towards the shelves littered with different containers of medicine. "Get it. You're looking for a glass tube about the length of your finger with- aaggh.." Graham caught her as she swayed his way, stopping her from falling off the bed. She took a few seconds to catch her breath. "..with...with a red cap. Should have a green crescent on it. And I'll need the injector in the draw. Yaz, by your left hand."

Yaz picked out the strange contraption out of the draw and carried it over to the Doctor. It looked like an alien ray gun crossed with some sort of futuristic tin opener.

Ryan left the Doctor propped up against Graham's hands and searched the shelves for the correct vial. There were several tubes with different shades of red caps, all with a green crescent. He brought all of them to the Doctor.

She picked one vial out of Ryan's hands then look the injector, slotting them both together with shaking hands.

"Right," the Doctor said, shoving one sleeve up past her elbow with her other hand. "This should get my stopped heart working again. It'll keep my working heart going for a little bit longer at the very least."

"What?" Graham said. "So this might not work?"

"It'll work. Just give it a minute."

She placed the injector in the crook of her bare elbow and with a click and a hiss emptied the vial. The device was then left at her side as she gasped and panted through a sudden pain, hand pressed to her chest. Graham found his fingers unintentionally clutching at the Doctor's shoulder.

It was a long, agonizing few seconds before the Doctor's breathing eased, sagging in Graham's hold. But before he could exclaim in alarm she suddenly sat up straight, with a big grin on her face.

"Oooo, that's better! Two hearts beating like drums once again. Bing bang-a boom!"

She leapt off the bed, startling the now smiling and relieved others and clapped her hands together.

"Right! Now that we've got that sorted, where to next?"

* * *

 **Alternate ending.**

She placed the injector in the crook of her bare elbow and with a click and a hiss emptied the vial. The device was then left at her side as she gasped and panted through a sudden pain, hand pressed to her chest. Graham found his fingers unintentionally clutching at the Doctor's shoulder.

It was a long, agonizing few seconds before the Doctor's breathing settled. She seemed to perk up a little, sitting up straighter under her own power though the lines in her brow didn't disappear. She placed two fingers at her own wrist.

"Doctor?" Asked Ryan.

"Right," she said. "Plan A half worked so time for plan B."

"Half worked?" Asked Yaz.

"My working heart is back to normal but the other one hasn't restarted, which isn't good. So given that energy taken out of it stopped I just have to hope that putting some back will start it."

"What?" Asked Ryan.

"How?" Asked Graham.

"In that cupboard, Ryan," said the Doctor, pointing to correct one, "Is a small grey box. Bring it over here."

The grey box in question was about the size of a hardback book and inside was a grey cube and mass of wires. The Doctor took them both out and unravelled the wires, plugging them into the cube. It beeped and the Doctor tapped one side, lighting up a display

"What is it?" Asked Graham.

"You have them in hospitals in your time, thought I don't know what you call them. An electrical shocky thing. A previous companion used one on me and it really wasn't pleasant and I was hoping not to have to repeat the procedure. Anyway, now I'm going to need some help. Yaz, you stay, boys I need you out. Ignore any noises, this is going to really hurt. I'll call you back when I'm done."

Ryan and Graham left as the Doctor handed Yaz one of the leads, shifting off her coat and tugging at the bottom hem of her shirt in the process.

They settled against the wall down the corridor, waiting, both flinching when they heard the Doctor's loud yell of pain. She appeared a minute or two later, still breathless and coatless, but standing on her own and smiling.

"Plan B was a success."

She settled her braces that were hanging at her side back on her shoulders and shrugged on her coat that Yaz had handed to her. She looked at her three friends.

"Right! Now that we've got that sorted, where to next?"


End file.
